Kyoto...and it snowed

Weather! A great choice, Diane! This challenge, more than most, sent my imagination off in many directions. Weather is ever present on our minds these days with super-storms and record highs and lows, displaced polar bears and migrating beetles. Weather is such a critical part of our planning, from what to wear when we leave the house to when and where we plan events. We're always thinking about it in the back of our minds - and I never really thought about that.

I started to think how weather colors our memories, how we remember something and the weather is part of the story. Sometimes it's a sad part, sometimes it's the highlight, but it's always there. My trip to Japan in January has inspired a number of pieces of work this year and I reflect on how the weather punctuated the sights and experience. How the light rain on the water in a garden made the memory more perfect and watching the falling snow from inside the train was magical. I realized that the weather - in this case cold, gray, rainy, snowy, as well as sunny at times, were all part of what made my journey more poignant and memorable.

"Kyoto: Kaku-dōrō" was inspired by photographs from my trip. I wanted the piece to be reminiscent of a block print, so minimal fabrics and limited detail are used to create the image on a silk organza layer. This was layered over a sunprinted background and machine quilted.